The NSW government is standing firm on its council merger process despite increasing community opposition, which has seen one Sydney council meeting shut down amid chaotic scenes.
Council workers were jostled, booed and spat at when about 200 protesters, including sacked mayors and councillors, seized control of the first meeting of the newly-formed Inner West Council on Tuesday night.
The first meeting of the new Mid Coast Council was also reportedly abandoned after a group of vocal protesters repeatedly disrupted proceedings.
Local Government Minister Paul Dooley said that while he was disgusted by the actions of protesters at the Inner West Council, for many councils "it's business as usual".
Riot squad police were called in to escort newly-appointed administrator, Richard Pearson, five minutes into the first meeting of the Inner West Council, an amalgamation of Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville councils.
One woman spat at him as he left the meeting, while another protester knocked his documents out of his hands.
"If these sort of actions are going to continue, we will look at what we need to do to clean up local government in NSW," Mr Dooley told reporters on Wednesday.
Mr Pearson said he would not be laying charges and vowed to continue carrying out local business.
"I am working with the former councillors to set up an implementation advisory group and a local representation committee, which will allow them to continue to represent our community and provide their valuable knowledge over the months to come," he said in a statement.
"The ultimate irony of last night's demonstration is that the behaviour of some made it impossible for me to set up those committees."
Mr Pearson, an inner-west resident, also rejected claims he is the state government's "puppet" and said he would do what he could to address residents' concerns over the 33km WestConnex motorway project.
Premier Mike Baird meanwhile criticised Greens MPs Jamie Parker and Jenny Leong, who attended and endorsed the Sydney protests.
Greens MP David Shoebridge said the party does not condone the "disgraceful" actions of the protester who spat at Mr Pearson.
"But this isn't about one individual, this is about an entire community in open revolt to Mike Baird's decision to squash their local council, to take away their local democracy," he said.
The council amalgamations are part of the state government's bid to have fewer councils covering larger populations.
Administrators have been appointed to run the 19 new councils until local government elections are held in September 2017.
